Congress has agreed to a massive spending bill to fund the federal government through Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2017. The House voted to approve the $1.1 trillion spending bill on May 3 and the Senate approved the measure a day later.

Agriculture Funding

In addition, the bill includes temporary relief from a federal cap on annual H-2B temporary worker visas to allow additional visas to be issued in 2017.

Many employers that have relied on H-2B workers for peak or seasonal business needs when local labor isn’t available – including those in the construction sector – were shut out from the program when the cap of 66,000 visas was reached extremely early this year in March.

For more information on the H-2B program, contact Alexis Moch at 800-368-5242 x8407.